Bangla couple ride across the world for ‘greener Earth’

NEW DELHI: They are afraid their homeland may disappear one day. Rising sea levels are pushing communities in Sunderbans to the edge and Mohammad Shahade Firdous and Fatema Sultana from Bangladesh are in Delhi to campaign for action against climate change.

The couple braved heat and rain to bike all the way from Dhaka via Bhutan to the Indian capital.

Their ‘Ride for Greener Earth’ began on April 29. It is being funded by Pathfinder Adventure Club in Dhaka and they have already travelled 3,830 km.

Not many know about the plight of islands like Sunderbans and Maldives. The duo stopped in Jalpaiguri, Asansol and Kolkata, Varanasi, Allahabad and Kanpur where they interacted with people to raise awareness. Amritsar and Jaipur will be their next stops. Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, China, Pakistan and Maldives are on their itinerary.

Firdous and Fatema are passionate about conservation and believe their unique journey may compel citizens to think about the environment. Firdous is a veteran of a bicycle expedition he undertook with two friends in 1998 across Bangladesh.

“When we were in Bhutan last month, we found that people there are very concerned about the environment. Being a small kingdom, its carbon footprint is also tiny,” he said. “We came to New Delhi in 2004. Even here, urbanization has wreaked havoc. The average temperature has risen since that time. Not a very good sign.”

Fatema looked a bit exhausted after her long ride. She said her home island needed the prayers and goodwill of the south Asian people to survive. “Further increase in global temperatures will raise sea levels. We urge the international community to take action and help us out.”